Rice University’s Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering (IBB) has honored four interdisciplinary teams of Rice and Texas Medical Center (TMC) faculty with $25,000 grants.
Todd Treangen, assistant professor of computer science, was among the honorees.
Treangen of Rice and Sonia Villapol of Houston Methodist Hospital plan to explore the connection between the brain and microbiome in response to concussions, based on their identification of a link between the two in experiments. They hope to determine whether detectable changes in the microbiome after a concussion can lead to novel therapies. Treangen is an assistant professor of computer science. Villapol is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Methodist.
The annual awards, now in their 14th year, fund the initiation of collaborative bio-related research between science and engineering faculty, enabling the exploration of high-risk interdisciplinary projects. It also helps faculty members attain increasingly competitive grants and awards from federal agencies.
The IBB Hamill Innovation Awards were presented Nov. 19 at the Cohen House.
Collaborative research with the TMC ties in with the goals of Rice’s Vision for the Second Century, Second Decade.